The sport of powerlifting comprises three lifts -- the squat, deadlift and bench press. In a competition, you have three attempts at each lift. Your total score is the sum of your best scores for each lift. The person with the highest total is the winner. Weight training for powerlifting offers many benefits, such as increased strength and muscle mass and reduced risk of degenerative conditions, as well as a sense of achievement from competing. But many women are needlessly put off by powerlifting because of the false belief that it will make them big and bulky.

Hormones

The main hormone involved in the muscle-building process is testosterone. According to Michael Wood, director of the Sports Performance Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts, females can't build their muscles anywhere near the size that men can, due to their lower testosterone levels. Trainer Joe DeFranco, of DeFranco's Training Center in New Jersey, states that women genetically carry their weight in different places than men and, therefore, won't look masculine by participating in powerlifting training.

Rep Ranges

To train for powerlifting, you must do most of your weights work with heavy weights -- at least 75 percent of your single repetition maximum, for a low number of reps and a high number of sets. This is different than bodybuilding training. A traditional powerlifting session would comprise three to five exercises, each for three to six sets of one to six reps. Exercising in this manner means that most of the positive adaptations that occur are neurological rather than muscular. You get stronger, but you don't train your muscles to failure or for an extended tempo; therefore, muscle breakdown is minimal and little growth occurs.

Diet

What you eat plays a huge role in muscle growth. To gain muscle mass and get bigger, you need to eat more calories than you burn, so that your body has excess energy to build muscle. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, however, you will lose fat and gain very little muscle. Even if you're training intensely and getting stronger, you won't get bigger if you stick to a healthy, calorie-restricted diet.

Targeted Hypertrophy

While you won't look too big and bulky from powerlifting, you can use it to your advantage to target certain body parts you may want to improve. Even though powerlifting is only three exercises, there is plenty of scope to include others as accessory work. Lots of auxiliary exercises work the areas many women want to target, yet carryover to improving your powerlifting performance. One example is the butt muscles or glutes. Bret Contreras, author of "Advanced Techniques in Glutei Maximi Strengthening" advises doing hip thrusts, band donkey kicks, single-leg back extensions and cable pullthroughs. These will hit your butt muscles and also boost your squat and deadlift. (Ref 4)

References

Resources

Sport and PE: A Complete Guide to Advanced Level Study; Kevin Wesson

About the Author

Mike Samuels started writing for his own fitness website and local publications in 2008. He graduated from Peter Symonds College in the UK with A Levels in law, business and sports science, and is a fully qualified personal trainer, sports massage therapist and corrective exercise specialist with accreditations from Premier Global International.